The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-08-12

More than One Hundred Persons Killed, and
Two Hundred Injured.

More than One Hundred Persons Killed, and
Two Hundred Injured.
CHICAGO. Aug 1.-THE Chicago Times's
special from Forest, ILL.,. says: All the railway
horrors in the history of this country were sur
passed, three miles east of Chatsworth. last
night, when an excursion train the Toledo.
Peoria & Western road dropped through burn
ing bridge and over one hundred people were
killed and four times that number more or less
badly injured The train composed of six
sleeping cars six day coaches and chair cars,
ard three baggage cars 1t was carrying nine
hundred and sixty passengers, alf excursionists.
and was bound for Niagara Falls. The train had
been made up all along the line
Of the Toledo, Peoria & Western
road, and the excursionists hailed from
various points in central Illinois. the bulk of
them, however, coming from Peoria Some of
the passengers came from Canton. from Ell
Paso, Washington, and, in fact. all stations
along the line; some from as far west Bur
lington and Keokuk. Ia. A special and cheap
sorts of people took advantage of it. When the
train drew out of Peoria, at o'clock last even
ing. it was loaded to its utmost capacity. Every
berth in the six sleepers was taken and the day
so heavy that two engines were hitched to it,
and when it passed this place it was an
hour and half behind time. Chatsworth,
the next station east of here, is six
made in seven minutes, so the terrible momen-
tum of those fifteen coaches and two heavy en-
gnes, shooting through space at the rate of
mile a minute, be understood No stop was
made at Chatsworth, and on and on the heavy
train, with its living freight. sped through the
darkness of the night. Three miles east of
Chatsworth is little slough, where the railroad
track crosses a dry run about ten feet deep and
fifteen wide. Over this was stretched an ordi-
nary wooden trestle bridge, and as the excursion
train came laundering down it. what was the
horror of the engineer on the front engine when
he saw that this bridge was on fire! Right up
before his eyes leaped the bright flames. and
the next instant he among them. There
was chance to STOP Had there been
warning it would have taken half mile to
stop that on-rushing of wood. iron and
human lives, and the train was within one
hundred yards of the red-toneued messengers of
death before they flashed their fatal signals into
the engineers face. But he passed over in safe
ty, the first engine keeping the rails AS it
went over, the bridge fell beneath it. and it
could only have been the terrific speed of the
his fireman. But the next engine went down
and instantly the deed of death was done. Car
crashed into car; coaches piled one on top of an
other and in the twinkling of an eye nearly
hundred people found instant death and fifty
more were SO hurt they could not live AS for
the wounded they were everywhere. Only the
sleeping coaches escaped. and as the startled
and half dressed passengers came tumblng out
rarely witnessed, and such work to do that it
seemed if human hands were utterly incapa-
BILE.
1t lacked but five minutes of midnight. Down
in the ditch lay the second engine, engineer
McClintock dead and fireman Applegate badly
injured. On top were piled the three baggage
cars. one on top of another, like child's card
house after he had swept it with his hand. Then
came the six day coaches They were tele
scoped as cars never were before, and three of
them were pressed into just space enough for
one The second car had mounted off its trucks.
crushing the woodwork like tinder, and lay